The disclosures herein relate generally to a computer chassis and more particularly to an access panel attached to the chassis and including a biased slider release mechanism for unlatching the panel from the chassis.
A typical computer enclosure is usually made up of a chassis, one or more covers, and a bezel, which is the front cosmetic cover of the computer system. There are many combinations of these elements in current computer hardware components. In any enclosure, the ease with which the covers and the bezel can be assembled and removed are important for manufacturability, serviceability and customer satisfaction.
Many computers have covers and bezels which are fastened in place with hardware such as screws. An immediate advantage can be gained by using integral snaps which are easily engaged and released. The main benefit is that a tool is not needed to gain access to the internal components or bays of the computer. There are many computer housings which utilize snaps and hooks in the bezel and covers to provide these added benefits. However, not every enclosure can be easily outfitted with such devices. Due to a variety of issues with how the covers and bezel must be assembled or removed from the system and how the components must be integrated with the chassis, the possibility of adding snap-on/snap-off functionality is limited.
In accordance with one attempted solution to the above-mentioned problem, a tower unit housing for a computer system has been provided including a rectangular box-like chassis which receives a front bezel, an L-shaped hood to cover the top and one side of the chassis and a side member to cover the other side of the chassis. Another enclosure includes a sheet-metal chassis, two cosmetic cover panels and a separate front pane. Each cover panel covers half of the chassis top and one of the sides. The bezel covers the front of the chassis and has openings for the accessible drive bays as well as buttons for interfacing with the computer control panel. To save shipping costs and reduce the time and cost of assembly in the manufacturing process, the right side cover of the chassis is designed to be shipped as part of an assembly with the chassis. The fixed nature of the right side cover, combined with some of the internal bracketry of the chassis, create accessibility problems to many points in the chassis. A problem commonly associated with such cover panels is that they are usually attached to the chassis at multiple latch points which are activated for release by multiple release devices.
Therefore, what is needed is a computer chassis including an access panel engageable with a biased cover latching slider mechanism attaching the panel to the chassis, and a one-button release device operably connected to release the cover from the slider mechanism.